Taiwan- Alishan Forest + Wufenpu

Going to Alishan forest was actually one of my favourite days in Taiwan. The scenery in that area is breath taking! They had a Giant Trees Forest Walk which i fell in love with. I love nature so such things would capture my heart immediately. Alishan is said to have cherry blossoms everywhere. The timing we arrived was slightly earlier thus the cherry blossoms had only js started blooming & was not in it's full glory yet. Well, at least we managed to see some of it in it's true splendour.

ALISHAN FOREST

Directions: 

• Travel from Taipei to Chiayi by High Speed Rail (HSR): NT$860, 1.5 hour 
• OR
• By normal train (TRA): NT$500, 3.5 hours.
• If you took the HSR, you'll need to get to the Chiayi TRA Station, which is located in downtown Chiayi. You can either take a taxi or a shuttle bus. 
• From the Chiayi Bus Station (next to the train station), you can take a bus (NT$220; 2.5 hours) all the way to Alishan.

Louis & i took the taxi as there are several taxi drivers waiting at the bus stop to get customers. So they will offer you a price to bring you up to Alishan & back down. Some of them are crazy. They would charge you SGD200 for a round trip. It's way too expensive so don't take it! Louis & i paid about SGD50 each! We shared cab with another lovely couple. 

If you do take the bus it is definitely way cheaper. But do note that it takes approximately 1hour+ to reach Alishan from Chiayi station. If you happen to be really early then by all means take the bus. But if you are already quite late & it's about to get dark, id suggest taking a cab. It's faster that way.

I was kinda disappointed that we did not see many cherry blossoms in Alishan. Thankfully, our driver brought us to a garden full of cherry blossoms on our way back down to the train station! So, i could check off "Taking photos with the cherry blossoms"! I even did my hair flip like i always do. Lol.

By the time we got down from Alishan it was evening. So we headed to Wu Fen Pu (五分埔). It was raining quite heavily at night. My fever actually subsided in the morning, but it came back in full force towards the end of the day. It went on like this for several days. 

Anyway, Wu Fen Pu (五分埔) was filled with stores selling all types of clothes. It's mostly ladies clothing's, shoes & bag. I did not purchase anything as i felt that the pricing wasn't of much difference from SG. It felt like i was shopping in Bugis street & a mix of Far East Plaza. The clothes aren't exactly cheap either. Most of the stores had large White plastic bags on the floor where you will have to dig for clothes which i was too lazy to do so. & Most of the store owners seemed to be busy counting stocks so naturally, they'd ignore me when i walk into their shop. Lol. I was expecting to buy clothes from Wu Fen Pu but felt very disappointed by the price tag on every clothing. Even the clothes in BKK is so much cheaper. 

Wu Fen  Pu (五分埔) 

Directions: Take the train to (台北後山埤) Hou Shan Pi MRT station, Come out from Exit 1.

* Ask locals for directions to Wu Fen Pu. It is just a 5minutes walk from the MRT*

Taiwan -Yeh Liu Geopark + Elephant Mountain + Raohe Night Market

In mid March,(16-23march) i travelled to Taiwan with Louis. I've never been to Taiwan before. But i've heard stories that it's a shopping paradise & that their food is really yummy. So i was really excited to be visiting Taiwan! 

During the plane ride there, i felt like crap. My temperature was rising like mad & i felt so giddy. When the plane landed, i got up & felt like fainting. I hadn't told Louis i wasn't feeling well. I think he sensed something wasn't right and he asked if i was okay. To which i told him i don't feel good. 

I got stopped by the authorities when walking pass the Quarantine check area. My temperature was at 39.7 Degrees! I didn't know all airports have a temperature censor. No wonder they knew i wasn't feeling well. Lol. Anyway, i was so afraid they would force me to fly back to SG. I tried to lie by saying i feel okay & stuff. But how to lie? They have a thermometer and all can't cheat technology. I had to have my blood taken & i was terrified. I don't like needles. They were afraid i had dengue. Was instructed to see a doctor right away after putting our lugagges at the apartment. They gave me a mask to wear as my cough was quite bad. 

In 24 years of my life, i have never ever had a cough so bad until that very day. My cough was crazy! My throat was so itchy & there was like a bottomless pit full of phlegm! I coughed throughout the entire night for the 8days i was in Taiwan! At one point i so drama ma ma. I even thought i was going to die. HAHAHA. Wth right i know! It was really painful & i felt extremely weak + helpless. I drank so much water & within 3 days i finished 2 bottles of cough syrup. Yet, it didn't help.

I felt so bad towards Louis for ruining his holiday because of my fever. But he was so kind & he took great care of me throughout the 8 days. So very thankful for him!

Okay enough about my high fever. Lol. Basically, to sum it up, i was sick for the entire time i was in Taiwan. I only started feeling better on the 2nd last day. However, despite my health, we still went out as i refused to be bed ridden & waste away my holiday like that. I felt fine like i could walk & all. It only worsened towards the end of the day when i nearly fainted at the Elephant Mountain. That was scary. My sweet angel, Louis, grabbed my arm in time lest i would have rolled down the mountain. 

First activity during our 2nd day was to,

Yehliu Geopark

Directions: Danshui Station to Yehliu Station

Opening hours: 8AM-5PM

Admission fee: NTD80

 I wanted something soupy to smooth my throat so i ordered fish soup. When it arrived Louis & i started laughing. They gave an entire fish! Hahaha so awesome. Their seafood was quite fresh. Loved it.

After Yehliu we scooted off to our next destination: Elephant Mountain

Elephant mountain is an easy hike. If you are a sporty person it should take you only 30mins to hike up. Elephant mountain is famous for it's view where you can see Taipei 101. We were at the mountain during sunset. Unfortunately as it was drizzling almost the entire day(which contributed to my health worsening), the scenery was cloudier than usual.

RAO HE NIGHT MARKET

Directions: 

From Taipei Main Station, Take the Green Line to the terminal station Songshan (松山), come out from exit 5. 

*The night market is right across the street next to the temple.*

After such a full day of activities we headed to the nearest Night Market which happens to be Rao He Night Market. We planned our literary in a way where all the places we plan to visit are along the way. 

Rao He night market was highly recommended by many as it is said to be less touristy & the food is better. So we decided to give it a go since it's highly raved about.

The Verdict?

The food was not bad. It seems like there's another night market within Rao He but i can't remember what it's called. There were so many food stalls & some had super long queues. I just wanted to have my lurou fan! Which we ate everyday! Hahaha. I loveeee Taiwanese sausages so much! They are my favourite! I would have eaten it everyday if i wasn't sick. Although many said that Rao He Night Market is one of the best, personally i felt it was so-so? I mean, other night markets also sell somewhat the same kind of food. & We spent less than an hour there too.

There isn't much to see. Just food. How much food can one eat anyway right?